Tyldak's Discovery
by gotimtim
Summary: A bit of short fan fiction I wrote recently.


Tyldak soared high above the trees, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his recently acquired wings. The winds which held him aloft almost sang to him as he coursed through them, exploring the world such as he never had before. Winnowill had done her job well, and the new body, painfully, excruciatingly made over the cycling of both moons was the result.

Long had Tyldak wanted to soar with the great eagles, and fly among them as a brother in the air. As one of them. Not as a rider carried on eagle-back like his brothers were, that had not been good enough. Now he was shunned by his elven brothers, only to be accepted as another air rider in the sky by the Eagles. It was a small sacrifice, just as the pain was, and the joy he received from being able to take to the air and fly more than made up for it. Tyldak was happy. As happy as one could be who lived in Blue Mountain.

_*Well?_

Feeling the abrupt probe into his mind, Tyldak resented Winnowill's intrusion. He was, however, not in a position to suffer her anger. Not after the gift she so recently bestowed upon him. Even through her sending, he could feel how tired she was. Stretching elven bones and skin into wings and talons had taxed her. It had been a long time since she'd used such magic.

Banking into the wind, he caught a thermal draft that lifted him still higher than he already was. Blue Mountain was but a small hill on a distant landscape. The human village located near the foot looked like a scattering of pebbles on a polished stone floor. He smiled, feeling the strangeness of muscles pulling differently now. It would take some getting used to.

_*It is glorious_

The feeling of tired satisfaction washed over him as she broke the link, and left him alone again to ride the winds. He continued to glide through the drafts until thirst called. He then lazily drifted towards the ground. The forest canopy was so thick, lush, and green, that it took some time to find an opening. As he glided down further, something odd struck him. There were no sounds from the forest. Nothing, save the sounds of the wind in the trees. No birds flitting in the branches nor calling to each other in song. The forest was silent.

When he found a stream trickling through the woods, he lightly set down nearby, and observed. His eyes, larger now, and capable of much better vision than he had even as an elf, scanned the forest for any signs of animal life. There was none, save for insects. Even they were precious few in number. His eyes scanned looking for something out of the ordinary. Something, anything that might give him a clue as to where he was, and why the forest lay silent as Door in his chamber. Then he saw it.

On a tree branch not far from the meandering stream, there was a globule of white that did not belong. It sat where one might expect to find a bird's next, or maybe a squirrel chewing on a nut. Having seen the one, Tyldak was soon able to spot more. They littered the forest, so vastly were they numbered. For all their number, they varied in size as well. Tiny little forms of white big enough to hold a mouse, and larger ones that might hold something else.

Forgetting his thirst for a moment, Tyldak ventured towards one of the nearer ones, and his suspicions were confirmed. It was a cocoon, and it was about the size of his closed fist. Reaching out one long, spindly, taloned finger, he gently tore through the strands until the animal inside came bursting forth. A rabbit, which looked at him with panic ravaged eyes before bounding off into the forest.

"By the High Ones!"

Frozen in awe, Tyldak's mind began to reel. Taken back to stories he'd heard, centuries ago, when the High Ones first arrived in their great palace on the world of Two Moons. Long had they traveled, and even longer had they waited as they looked for a place to call home. This strange world, with two moons and the cursed beastial humans who took it for their own. It was the only place they could find. It had been a mistake.

The humans, refused the attempts of the High Ones for peaceful co-existence. So those who remained took their children and scattered to all corners of the world in an effort to survive. Magic worked differently here, the legends said. The High Ones were still learning their limitations. One group of them settled Blue Mountain, and one of them had brought the…

"Preservers! In all the High One's Glory, I never would have thought. Preservers, here? I must be sure."

It was the Preservers the High Ones had depended upon to keep them safe as they traveled among the stars, using their magic to propel the great palace, tucked safely within their cocoons. It was his understanding the Preservers were lost to the new world, though he'd heard legends of them, or creatures like them, from time to time, and mostly from the humans Winnowill and Lord Voll deigned to have serve in the mountain. He'd paid it little mind.

Quickly, Tyldak sought out another cocoon, and carefully freed it's inhabitant from within. This time a fox scurried into the underbrush.

"Hey!"

Spinning on his heel, he looked around, and immediately came face to face with the very Preservers he'd just been thinking about.

"You!"

"Nastybad strangebird highthing break wrapstuff!" The little creatures hands rested upon it's hips, and it's little butterfly-like wings beat furiously.

"I wanted to see what was inside the cocoon."

Tyldak's explanation fell on deaf ears as more of the little flying creatures appeared from within the trees.

"Are highthings wanting us now? Is time for be fetched?"

The little creatures, things of legend from before the time Tyldak was born, were gathering, looking at him hopefully, almost gleefully. Her little cap clung precariously to her head, the one speaking to him began making the most awful noise. Soon the others joined her, and Tyldak realized she was singing.

"I-I don't know what you mean." Tyldak said.

This did nothing to still their excitement as they continued to swarm around him.

"Enough!" Spreading his wings, Tyldak lifted a few feet from the ground as he whirled around and set down again.

The scattered Preservers looked at him in trepidation. The one who'd spoken to him before raced up to him again.

"Nastybad strange-winged highthing no for tell truth. Nastybad strange-winged highthing make Petalwing mad!"

Before he could blink, Tyldak's face was covered in sticky goo. The preserver had spat her cocoon at him. Wiping it from his face, he looked fearfully at the Preservers around him.

"Come from sky, like highthing, but bad! Break wrapstuff! Tall Dark softhair highthing send Petalwing way, say wait for be fetched. You no come for to fetch Petalwing, break wrapstuff! Talldark softhair highthing say for to go to forest, make wrapstuff, wait for be fetched. Long long long we wait. No for be fetched. Petalwing make wraptstuff. Was good Petalwing, make much wrapstuff. No for be fetched. Petalwing mad!"

"Foolish creature, go away."

"Petalwing no go. Petalwing stay. Make wrapstuff. Is pretty!"

With a gleam in her tiny eyes, she approached Tyldak, again. This time with her friends behind her.

Unsure of her intentions, and not wanting to find out how they included him, Tyldak took to the air. His wings beat hard as he distanced himself from the creatures and fought to climb to a higher altitude. Angling back towards Blue Mountain, he found air currents to carry him along. He was tired, thirsty, and his mind raced.

He had a suspicion that the Talldark softhair highthing was Winnowill. _ It would be within her nature, to keep a secret such as this. It too, would be in her nature to banish the Preservers, and send them far away from Lord Voll and the other elves within the castle. If they were gone, then the elves could not be cocooned for travel away from this world. That would leave her and Lord Voll here, where they were comfortable. Where they still had power. Winnowill has her secrets it seems, she will bare watching._

Looking back over his shoulder, Tyldak scanned the forest as it disappeared beneath him. The Preservers had grown wild since they were banished from the Mountain, but it seems their memories are long. If they remember back then, and they've been waiting, they may bare watching as well. If any other elves were to find them, it would not bode well for Winnowill. Her plans for the elves and Blue Mountain would be cast into the wind. Still, Tyldak had discovered them. He had a sneaking suspicion it would only be a matter of time until another elf did as well.


End file.
